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Crura Darkmine
Crura Darkmine... a dwarf of shifting identities, constant pain, and scarred by life. She has fought more battles in her relatively short life (for a dwarf) then most older dwarves have in their whole lives. The same is true for her skill in smithing, its on par with venerable masters of the craft. A sign of her dedication to the axe and hammer. Characteristics The great-grand daughter of Corgra Darkmine, grand daughter of Criem Darkmine, and daughter of Crurose Darkmine. An heir to a dark and potent legacy, one that has led to a majority of her pain and suffering, the legacy of the Darkmine's. Physical Appearance Crura is solidly built, tall for a dwarf and very squarish. She is not lacking in strength or durability and if one sees her from behind they might mistake her for a male dwarf. She does however only have one hand, her left arm ends at the elbow after her shield ripped itself off her arm. Her eye's don't burn nearly as fiercely as her fellow dark iron's, often seeming dim in comparison although in tune with her emotions they often flare up. The reduction in the light is due to losing the shard of Xe'ra that saved her life, but as the sister of steel blessing made her eyes and hair burn more brighter, there is a chance that now that she is on the path once more that her eyes and hair will return to normal. Her eyebrows are patchy, and she has a scar starting from her left cheek that runs into her chin, narrowly missing her left eye and her lips (see picture). On the rare occasions she's not wearing as much armor, and one gets a view of her back, they would see a litany of scars decorating her thick skin. Including... a gem-shaped indent in her upper back, with burn scars around it, a long, gnarled diagonal (upper right side to lower left side) scar from the mortal wound she suffered on Argus. Personal Effects Crura has two sets of full-plate, one made of dark mithril (dark iron-mithril alloy) and the other out of dark elementium (dark iron-elementium alloy). Her primary weapon is Core'splitter, an ancient axe made out of elementium and she once wielded a titan shield known as Molt'ar. She additionally has an elementium drinking tankard. Armor Sets Crura's first set of full-plate armor, that she wore while she was a partially transformed sister of steel was made out of dark elementium. A suit of armor so heavy that anyone without the strength of a giant could barely walk in, let alone fight in, and Crura was climbing mountains in it. When Crura lost her sister of steel blessing she had to give up the armor. This armor was filled with dark iron symbolism and Clan Darkmine iconography. Her newer set, reforged after the original was stolen by Corgra Darkmine, is a a masterfully crafted suit of dark mithril with a double bladed axe with a C. and D. on either side of the handle upon the back of the armor, her maker's mark. On the front of the armor is the symbol of the Steelgrasp Brigade and elsewhere are designs of Crura's accomplishments, Clan Steelgrasp iconography, and minor dark iron symbolism but nothing relating to her own clan. This armor was non-magical in it's original form and remains so in its new form. Not like it really needed magical enchantments to remain strong! While new, it's scars are only growing! Core'Splitter The legendary greataxe of Curiose Darkmine, the master smith of yore who forged the axe out of pure elementium that was located in a vein of dark iron ore DEEP in the core of Ironforge before the War of the Three Hammers. It was enchanted by his wife, Corgra Darkmine and intended for their clan's Champion. It's enchantments, besides to keep the weapon ever sharp and highly durable, was that 'wielded the fury of fire and could rend even earth asunder'. However, following the War of the Three Hammers and Curiose's death during Ragnaros's arrival, the weapon was changed by the explosion of elemental energy, allowing the weapon to literally consume the cores of elemental fire and earth upon slaying such elementals. Perhaps in fear of the weapon, or not wanting it on the board, Ragnaros had his pawns take the greataxe and store it in the deepest royal vaults where it laid until after Ragnaros was finally defeated and it was awarded to Crura for her service in helping Moira and the loyalist clear out any hostile factions of dark iron's and elementals still in the city. Reforged after it's destruction in Ulduar, it was destroyed by Thorium while removing the sister of steel blessing from Crura, she remade the weapon herself as a one-handed battleaxe. She turned the excess metal into a tankard, and surprisingly the enchantments and runes of Corgra remained potent upon the weapon. Part of the reason it was destroyed was in fact due to it becoming intimately connected to the sister of steel blessing, so that when it was removed the stress was enough to shatter the weapon. On Argus, the Lightforged Draenei blessed and added their own runes upon the axe to allow their dwarven ally to better slay demons! Molt'ar, Shield of Ignis When Crura was convinced by Modarin Slatfist and others that her sister of steel blessing was a downside, she settled to go to Ulduar and find a way to remove the blessing. Although she was not present for the trials her allies endured, they defeated the elemental known as Molt'ar which was bound within this titan shield as their reward. Crura was given this shield to keep. This clearly titan forged artifact is a circular disc, its edges sharpened to cut if pressed too hard against softer materials. Although made from titansteel, the border is a golden color with titan runes inbetween each rivet in the shield. The center of the shield seems to be swirling pool of magma that should spill out but seems contained by an invisible force, and indeed trying to touch the magma causes one to feel an glass-like barrier as strong as titansteel. Despite the barrier, Crura could command the shield to launch a torrent of titan-infused magma upon her foes! On the inner side of the shield, where Crura straps it to her left forearm is otherwise flat and golden in color. This strap would cause her to lose her left forearm when she returned to Ulduar (to reclaim her sister of steel blessing) when Molt'ar sought freedom and to return to the forge of Ignis here it once dwelled. It ripped itself off of her arm, taking it with her as the spirit sundered her shield entirely. It then tried to kill Crura for the time imprisoned, but the elemental was stopped by her allies and by Ignis himself. Personality Crura is many things, she's intelligent, and possessed of an iron will that borders on stubbornness. Along with this is a determination and willingness to do what is needed that when combined with her preference for action causes her to border on headstrong. One core thing is that she does not show weakness, even if she's hurting deeply on the inside. Even if she should cry, she does not. Once she was growing compassionate and more forgiving, recent events such as Argus and her time spent in Glauric's torture pit has caused her to grow cold and more strict and even less willing to show weakness. Similarly, she distrusts magic and to a lesser degree machines and refuses to seek out an artificial limb to replace her left forearm because of it. Crura respects strength and honesty, while she detests weakness and trickery. She isn't afraid to speak her mind when it comes to military tactics and while she will never admit it or show it, she takes failure personally. She fully believes if she was somehow stronger, better, or more capable, that she could have prevented the failure and this mindset fuels her need for perfection. History Born to Crurose Darkmine and Corla Furyforge, Crurose was the magically gifted Thane of Clan Darkmine and grandson of Corgra Darkmine. He was a vile politician and ignored Crura on a daily basis as she lacked his bloodlines innate magical abilities (abilities born of Corgra's blood and the arrival of Ragnaros). To him, Crura was worthless, not even worth the effort of calling his daughter. Crurose would lavish attention and his time on Crura's younger brother, Dagrim Darkmine. Early Years However, her mother was a loving but strict parent who did put her duty as captain of a general's personal guard above her role as a mother, but nevertheless found time to be there for Crura. Corla would mentor Crura in the art of war and in combat, shaping her childhood as one where pain was correlated to progress and attention, and the importance of law, honor, and sacrifice. That fulfilling ones duty was more important then ones life, but Corla had higher aims for her daughter to achieve and pushed her to achieve nothing less then perfection. Due to her upbringing, Crura at the time was emotionally distant from the world, cold, and a perfectionist. She focused on training instead of dwelling on her early emotional scars. She would evaluate her entire life and worth on her skills and successes in her daily duels with her mother. As unless Crura could defeat her mother in single combat, she was forbidden from joining the military as Crura wanted. These duels frequently led to broken bones on Crura's part, but also to an immense boost in her ability that her own people considered her a prodigy as well as pride upon finally besting her mother. The Wars As part of the military, Crura won glory for the dark iron's wherever she was sent, which was usually the Badlands or attacking trade caravans going through or near dark iron lands. She often marveled at Loch Modan before spilling Bronzebeard blood in the same hour. This kept up until the orc's arrived. With the orc's, she was ordered to remain in Shadowforge until their welcome in the Spire was over. During this time, Crura returned to her training and even joined the same guard her mother captained where the general insisted she learn the trade of a smith. But, after she was put in charge of her own elite squad that only answered to her mother, the general, or the general's higher ups. This team was her first real taste of war as she was frequently sent into the Spire to clear out the Dark Horde that remained. Unlike other squads, she took no spellcasters, hating her father and distructing maguc because of it and she took no golems either. Her goal was to keep her squad alive and remain successful! Her time fighting the Horde and the dragons honed her idea of honor and duty as she considered her troops surviving and victory to be important (victory more so), but also realized that war was not as 'pretty' as the raids she took part in. It was chaotic, dangeorus place! Yet, all things come to an end, for in year 25 her mother would be killed by the same 'heroes', the assassins of Magni who killed Emperor Dagran as well. In her death, Corla had done her duty and managed to keep the general alive who would heighten Crura's training and promote her to her mother's positon as captain of his guard. A responsibility she took very seriously and focused all of her energy into as a way to escape the sadness she felt with her mother's death. When Ragnaros too was defeated, Moira was forced to obey the duty she had to the throne over the duty she had to the general who was almost a father to her. She turned him in, as he was a Ragnaros loyalist and supporter of the Twilight's Hammer, two things Queen-Regent Moira opposed and deemed punishable by death. It hurt her deeply, but her loyalty was rewarded with the gift of Core'splitter, the greataxe forged by her great grandparents long before her birth. She would use this axe to help clear out any hostile elementals in Shadowforge and in the Molten Core, leaving only those who swore to respect the autonomy of the dark iron's and of Moira's rule. This 'civil war' of sorts lasted for years, ending before Moira returned to Ironforge to claim her son's birthright after Magni turned into diamond. For her service in the war, Crura asked only two things of Moira. The first, that she be released from the military and be allowed to pursue further mastery of smithcraft, and to be given a mentor to bring her there. Moira agreed, and apprenticed her to Torgrim Lavadeep, a legendary smith and ancient dark iron from before the days of the War of the Three Hammers. He taught Crura the secrets of dark iron ore, elementium, mithril, thorium, and a number of more mundane metals before finally teaching her the secrets of alloying dark iron ore with metals such as elementium and mithril to create "Dark Elementium" and "Dark Mithril" respectively. In the short years she worked with him, she never once heard him compliment her, buit she knew he respected her. As such, she was in many ways a skilled Forgemaster in addition to an artisan Smith and the master Warrior she was. Her time with Torgrim was also when she'd first begin to notice the effects of the sister of steel transformation, something no one knew of in Shadowforge and would fuel her reason for traveling to Ironforge after the Council of Three Hammers was formed. Torgrim would die of old age before her apprenticeship was over, unfortunately. Ironforge No longer part of the military, and fast on her way to becoming a master smith, Crura moved to Ironforge in part to seek further mastery with her estranged kin but to also see the dwarven capital of yore (and to discover what ailment caused her to feel so heavy and strength, the blessing of steel and stone). She'd spend two years more or less working and sleeping where she could, unable to afford a home in the city and unwilling to head back to Shadowforge yet. Her time in the city, later joining Clan Steelgrasp (later becoming the Steelgrasp Brigade) alongside characters such as Vilmar Ironbrow, Bathildis Ironstout, and serving under Furgas Steelgrasp, would confuse her to no end that the Bronzebeards showed greater compassion and were more free with their emotions. This, along with her interactions with Modarin Slatfist caused her to sort of crawl out of her 'shell' and to reject her blessing of steel and stone. This rejection slowed the steelification to a crawl, but the damage was already done in many regards. Crura also obtained the rank of 'Battlemaster' within Clan Steelgrasp remarkably early! As such, Crura was matching blows with Furgas and Vilmar, and was on par with Modarin and Bathildis as far as drinking went. Truly legendary! One time she grabbed a black drake as it tried to fly away and literally pulled it back to the ground so her allies could kill it. Part of the reason for her rejection was the feelings she was developing for Modarin, feelings she had felt for others in the past, but never pursued due to her station or that they died in battle. Crura also forged a new set of tankards for the Steel Pub (now the Battlestein Brewpub) and was also the pub's bouncer where she out drank many a patron! Ulduar Realizing nothing a mortal could do could help Crura in ridding herself of the blessing of stone and steel, her sister of steel capability, Crura journeyed north to the seat of the Keepers, to Ulduar! Her friends and allies, Modarin, Vilmar, and Bathildis included as well as many others! They were greeted by Keeper Thorium who heard Crura's plight and commended their resolve to aid a friend and for Crura's to reject such a potent blessing. He took her away, to being the process of removing the power and challenged her allies to three tests. In the first, they defeated a previously unnamed fire elemental in the workshop of Ignis that was later revealed to be named Molt'ar. This elemental was bound in the shield that Crura would take with her from Ulduar. In the second test, they were to defeat a machine of Mimiron in his laboratory, a turret that stood no chance! As an almost ironic reward, they were gifted the Crown of Innovation, a broken helmet with a lightbulb attached to the top. For the third and final challenge, they were to defeat Thorim himself, and it was Thane Vilmar Ironbrow who proved his worthiness to all who bore witness to his smackdown of the Keeper. This earned him Thorim's respect and a reward, "Thunder's Gift" a mighty maul possessed of the powers of the storm itself. Crura was then returned, unconscious, her axe shattered due to the connection it had formed to the power of the blessing. Her armor too heavy to wear now, Crura was brought back to Ironforge where she recovered, and yet she suffered terrible nightmares, nightmares of a metallic version of herself who'd taunt and fight her every night until on the last night of her recovery, she 'killed' this version of herself and slept easy for the first time. Awakened, truly flesh, Crura wasted little time in pursing a romance with Modarin, for the first time coming to terms and accepting emotions she had long ignored, although she lacked experience with them and came off as very timid. Softened both in mind and body by the experience, Crura was on the path to personal growth, forging for herself new armor along with reforging Core'splitter and making the tankard and an obsidian stormhammer of fire she no longer possesses. Legion With the Legion's return, and her relationship only growing with plans of a future family once the world was safe, Crura decided to depart to make that dream a reality by helping defeat the demons. While life moved on in Khaz Modan, she fought tooth and nail against the demons and she didn't think she could leave, not when they were winning! Onto Argus she went, not receiving a single letter from Modarin while she sent one every day. Unknown to her or Modarin, Corgra was burning every letter the two sent to each other to 'toughen up' Crura. Near Death While on duty with her then commander, Teldara, Crura would save her life and her comrades by seemingly giving her life by blocking a potent blow from the gigantic Fel Lord. His axe rent her armor asunder, and surely would have slain her! If it was not for a shard of Xe'ra that Crura had picked up on Argus, she would have surely died, protecting her allies. It even granted her the powers of the Light in a minor capacity (it turned her eyes to a golden fiery hue), like a sort of Lightforging. She has yet to learn this, but this injury has rendered her barren. Not knowing anything was wrong, she went right back to fighting with everything she had, putting her new powers to good use, but she was hurting inside by the lack of contact with Modarin. She didn't know he had moved on with his life, thinking her dead. As Modarin was her first real relationship since her mother, one she let herself feel without any restriction or barrier, the loss of contact broke her heart, just as her hopes had been broken. It hurt like her mother's death, the only other person she truly cared about. She forswore true happiness, a perhaps childish move but who could argue with what she had experienced? Even if she was unwilling to face her feelings and move past them, living daily with the pain of loss. Battle for Azeroth Shortly after returning to Azeroth, Crura was lured into a trap by Corgra who played on her sorrow and rage by revealing the truth of the letter burning. Practically enslaved, Corgra used her connections to the Senate to revoke Crura's Thaneship of the clan and grant it to her, and then in order to 'toughen her up' further, Corgra made a deal with Glauric Goldwrought who would 'train' her as a favor for a better relationship between their clans. Although Crura never broke, it did cause her once more reject her positive feelings and crawl back into her shell of old. For a time, she hated Davonna for stealing Modarin, but in truth Crura hated herself the most. Corgra also removed the shard of Xe'ra, gifting it to Glauric as a joke which removed her ability to wield the Light and causing her hair and eyes to dim considerably. Crura would eventually escape with Furgas's help, but the damage was done. She had become more spiteful, drinking herself into a stupor and desiring the unfeeling steel and stone she was once disgusted by. She didn't want to get hurt ever again, physically or mentally and became to make plans to reclaim her lost blessing by returning to Ulduar, to run away from her feelings and emotions. The Return to Ulduar Crura returned to Ulduar, ironically helped by Glauric as well as old friends such as Dolgbvari who helped her once before. She once more met with Thorim who warned her that regaining the power she forsook would not be as easy as giving it up and that it could kill her. He also told her that if she had second thoughts and and would wish to remove the blessing a second time, that it would be impossible, she would die. Still, Crura insisted and so Thorim introduced her to Ignis who had since been reforged following his demise in Ulduar (Ignis was still 'dead' when Crura first visited Ulduar). There, he began the process to allow her to become a sister of steel again, placing her upon his anvil and 'forging' her anew. Yet, his forge rejected her and tried to kill her, to purge the flesh from his anvil. Her allies helped defend her, but the true test came when the elemental spirit within her shield grew on the strength of its old home, of Ignis's forge, and would break its prison. Molt'ar sundered the titan shield Crura wielded, sending it spinning off into the room and taking her left forearm with it. The fire of his forge cauterized the wound instantly, and knocked her unconscious, and the newly released Molt'ar had to be contained by her allies until Ignis was finished and could once more trap the elemental in his forge. In truth, Ignis's ritual was to place Crura in the right state of mind to realize the truth. In her unconscious dreams she bore witness to all her greatest moments, and all of the worst and was once more met with the figure of what she could have been, a version of herself made of steel and stone, the part she thought she killed. In the end, she succeeded the Keeper's challenge and reunited with her darker half, the half that enjoyed power and accepted the blessing. The part she rejected all those years ago when Thorim 'removed' the blessing of stone and steel. By accepting that dark, metallic half of her back into the 'fold', she regained the ability to become of steel and stone again. Trivia Crura has always been one of my favorite characters, being the first female I seriously RPed on (Mairla is technically the first, but Crura almost instantly replaced her), born during a time where I was still learning the ropes of how WoW RP tends to work, I.E., at a time when I had no idea how power scaling worked and the sort, so I made her a Sister of Steel at the start. Then I realized she'd be too strong so I retconned it to PARTIAL sister of steel-hood, I.E., she wasn't fully there yet. Finally, I went through a 6 hour long event (I hosted) to remove the blessing entirely! Since then, I've been pretty lost in how to pursue Crura. The lead up to Ulduar was great! There were deep questions about mortality, the cost of the blessing, and so forth as well as EPIC feats (for example, Crura could drink over 20 slammers in one go, a feat that only Bathildis can claim to copy, OR when Crura pulled a black drake down with only one hand to stop it from flying away!). Nor was I too knowledgeable in how to RP a relationship, this lack of experience and me bringing Kalrum to Wyrmrest led me to put Crura on a shelf for most of Legion. This led to the storyline of her adventures with the Legionfall and Army of the Light folks to explain her absence. I had hoped to have time to play her more, hence why she came back (she also sorta had to come back? BfA was starting soon), but college was rearing its ugly head and I just couldn't. This in turn led to the Corgra capture (which I worked into a Glauric torture storyline to explain her absence again!), now, as I'm finding time to play her more, I once more don't really know how to progress her story. I know I don't want her to stay the same, a dark iron warrior whose a smith is SO COMMON. The Avatar of Flame is a nice touch, but warrior-smiths and avatars are rather common as well. So! I put her on the path to return to her roots instead. Links Traitforge Crura Battlestein Profile Short Story: "Crura, a Rebirth" Crura Darkmine - 3.5/Pathfinder Character Sheet "Stonelord-Sister of Steel" (20th level for fun). Crura Darkmine - 5e Character Sheet "Sister of Steel" (homebrew, 20th level for fun). Crura Darkmine - WoW RPG Character Sheet "Warrior-Mt.King-TB Dwarf-Sister of Steel" (25th level, for fun). If you look through the character sheets, you might notice that she's using a hammer called Molt'ar. That is going to be her 5AP weapon reward in Battestein, a storyline that will have her becoming a full sister of steel and using the husk of Molt'ar and her axe, Core'splitter in order to reforge Molt'ar into her mighty new weapon!Category:Character